Both photos are pleasing… I like #1 for its zig-zag shoreline and the contrast between the round and wet pebbles and the blurry water. The warm but subtle colors of the sky reflected is also very nice.

Photo #2 is more classical but the pebble/blurry water contrast is there also.

For me, #1 wins by a very slight margin but with time, it might change.

I like beaches and rocky shores in general and your pictures as well. So I'm always somewhat biased if discussion is about sea and coast-lines.

But then again I'm not really shure wether long-time-exposures are always appropriate for shore-lines. It calms down the sea which I assign to storm, waves, spindrift and power. On the other hand a beach-scene can express tranquillity and your second picture could fall in this category if there wasn't the wave rolling in.

Thanks eveyone for the comments. Once again they are varied which is enlightening.

Scott - Your are right there are a number of ways to crop these that produce quite different results.

Harlem22 - I know that some people don't like the long exposures but to me, for seas that are quite rough (as these were), the long exposure helps to simplify the elements. Otherwise they are too chaotic. I did shoot some shorter exposures and didn't care for any of them. On the other hand this may just be my subjective view on it because for both of these images (taken on different days) the swell was up after a storm and the wind was biting cold. I didn't have any sense of tranquility or warmth, in fact quite the opposite. Apparently that only partially came through in the pictures.

Thanks jlynn, I'm glad you like them. These are from a D7000 but I think the nature of the light is due to the low angle of the sun, thin cloud cover that acts as a diffuser and the reflective nature of the water.